


The Minotaur Adrift

by nonky



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22397842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: "Sounds like you're getting the hang of being infamous," he said. "Welcome to the club. The membership price is high, but you pay with your soul. I've been assured I might not have one, but they take the Platinum Amex, too.""That's dumb. What people call soul is the part of your brain that controls morality. You're not impaired in any way. You just come from your family," she said. He surprised her by giving a little chuckle, and Nancy bit her lip. "That sounded politer before I let it out of my mouth. I spend a lot of time around George. You're a human being, and we're all flawed, is what I meant to say."Spoilers up to Episode 11, and please see note for pairing and prompt.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Owen Marvin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20
Collections: Nancy Drew TV Series (2019)





	The Minotaur Adrift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Black_Hawk_night_sky_tree_willow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Hawk_night_sky_tree_willow/gifts).



> For the prompt: I was thinking Nancy Drew / Ryan Hudson pairing, i don't know i kind of see it going in that direction it's just sometimes the way he looks at her it kind of comes of like he likes her. I don't really see her and Nick getting back together or together in general, neither come off like they are actually in love with each-other more like friends w benefits that's all.
> 
> I am aware of certain fan theories that make this one a little controversial, so please read only if you are able to appreciate some banter between these two, including a little light flirting. I am also aware of the age difference, and would have to think longer about the potential ship for it to go much further than this. I have seen moments of real understanding between these two, but they haven't really been together onscreen that much. I'm not honestly sure how many of us are around and reading/writing fics for this show yet. I hope I've done justice to the prompt.

Nancy knew she'd have to give statements to the police. She was ready for a long day at the station, collecting glares and drinking bad coffee. She had the family lawyer with her, and it was surreal having to have a family lawyer. Her father was the family lawyer because he was a lawyer, but most families just had parents. It felt anachronistic being too broke to afford state college, but having a lawyer on retainer for urgent need.

She recognized everyone at the dinner turned police sting would likely have to talk to police, but she'd thought the appointments would be scrupulously booked to avoid any Hudsons crossing paths with non-Hudsons. Her secret hope had been a little time with Owen, his eager grin distracting her from the building of people hating her. She stopped short when the uniformed cop waved her into a room with Ryan Hudson.

"Uh, I don't mind the hallway bench," she said. "Mr. Hudson probably wants some privacy."

The various lawyers had been called in for ground rules, and she didn't have any friendly faces with a badge anymore. She would swallow her tongue before she spoke to Detective Hart.

"It's okay, Nancy," Ryan said, his tone a little wry. "We're bound to get thrown together from time to time. They want us in here to discourage reporters from sneaking in for photos."

She was still making headlines, some media particularly tickled at the notion of a former pageant winner embarking on a crime-fighting career. It didn't seem to matter Nancy's success with the poisoner was getting poisoned and somehow surviving. Her big bust was her own father, and she had used Owen's discovery of a survivor from the shipwreck to corner Everett Hudson. Her fansite was gaining members, and they were running a donations campaign toward her legal defense fund.

She hated it, but she might need the money. Everything she did to simplify the field of suspects just found out some new horrifying reality about the world. She was trying to be less cynical about literally everyone she met, but it was hard when all of them had deeply guarded secrets. They all thought they were right to conceal the things they'd done, too, and she knew she was no exception.

But her parents hadn't taught her to give up on humanity. Bare minimum, Kate and Carson Drew had instilled good manners. She could tell she wasn't getting back out of the room without a tussle with a police officer. It seemed wasteful to bother just to avoid awkwardness.

Nancy realized she was in the break room, the single small table and four chairs the only seating. It was probably meant as a courtesy instead of putting them in the windowless interrogation room. She could stand somewhere, but the uniform lingered in the room when she tried propping herself against the wall and scrolling her phone.

"I think he's going to stay unless you make it look convincing you're not going to bolt," Ryan said idly. "I didn't want to sit down either, but I dislike being stared at."

She glanced at the cop, who seemed to dislike his orders to stare. He gestured to the chairs. Ryan had sat on the wrong side, his back to the door. She could take the opposite chair and pretend to be alone.

"We can be civil without a chaperone." She sat down and shot a challenging look until the uniform left.

Nancy wanted to text with one of her friends, but she felt weird being that ignorant. Ryan had no such trouble, but he was looking off blankly with a bored expression.

"They act like we're animals because we have parties and fast cars," he said eventually. "Like I'm the eighteen year old hooligan I was."

She arched an eyebrow. "I have been to one of your parties," she replied. "And I guess I qualify as the eighteen year old hooligan here, so we might not be winning them over - at least not today."

Ryan sighed. He put his phone down and stretched his shoulders. "There's always next time. I'm not angry at you, by the way. You got my father on the wrong end of a negotiation. I respect a smart idea."

Nancy wasn't sure how to take that. She knew rich families might be as much about hustling for rank and power if the generations didn't share their vision for the family fortunes. She was unclear on what Ryan wanted, but he didn't strike her as the most dangerous member of his family.

"I don't think I should say thank you for the compliment," she told him. "And I'm not exactly sorry to have had your father arrested. I wasn't acting from personal grudges, and George did mention you stopped by to make amends. I hope this doesn't set you back from your wellness retreat."

She saw him quirk his mouth at her very tactful words. It was true she didn't know enough about any of the Hudsons for her actions to be personal. They were polished, stylized versions of people she could observe, but they felt like a museum exhibit. They were always guarded and no one could scratch under the surface of all the decorative fripperies.

"You can call it rehab. I doubt you want to talk to the media about my private life. It's not that interesting right now, anyway. Wait until I get attached to a starlet, it pays better."

"I don't give interviews anymore," Nancy said. "I should have learned that lesson a few years ago. Recognition always swings around to judgement. I just want to be left alone."

Ryan's nod was deep and real, his shoulders looking strong under his jacket. He did look healthier than she remembered. The sleepless manic energy was gone, and she could tell he had more control over his emotions. It was too bad he couldn't have a decent period of mourning to get some space and time. She wasn't sorry to have investigated him, but he'd seemed like he was torn up about Tiffany. He was too confused by all of it to have been the one to set it in motion.

"Sounds like you're getting the hang of being infamous," he said. "Welcome to the club. The membership price is high, but you pay with your soul. I've been assured I might not have one, but they take the Platinum Amex, too."

"That's dumb. What people call soul is the part of your brain that controls morality. You're not impaired in any way. You just come from your family," she said. He surprised her by giving a little chuckle, and Nancy bit her lip. "That sounded politer before I let it out of my mouth. I spend a lot of time around George. You're a human being, and we're all flawed, is what I meant to say."

He tipped an imaginary hat. "Thank you for that. For what it's worth, I don't think your father deserves to be in jail," Ryan said. "He didn't want to work for me, but he always helped with whatever I needed in good faith. And I know he loves you too much to risk it. Tell him I wish him my best."

She was emotional about her father, and had to change the subject to something safer. Ryan seemed oddly chatty, but he liked her more since she'd sheltered him at her house and stolen his Roman coins. It was superficial, but Celia Hudson would encourage anyone to have a good facade. She had raised him with lofty ideals, and unconditional love likely wasn't on that list.

"I will," Nancy said. "Is this what it's like to be a Hudson?"

"Hmm?" He was tapping on his phone, but looked at her mildly.

"Held apart from everyone and sort of made special but in all the wrong ways? Not guilty but never presumed innocent until you show it? Told to shut up and let the lawyers handle everything real, while you sit looking presentable in case you have to demonstrate you're cooperating nicely and not being a brat?"

He leaned back and tried to look unmoved, but he frowned anyway. "Sometimes there are ski trips, and the booze is like nothing you've ever tasted," Ryan said, his tone kind. "I have a flask if you want a little splash to get you through."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "I'm eighteen, and we're in a police station," she said. "And weren't you just in rehab?"

He pointed at the cluttered counter top and discoloured posters on the walls. "Yeah, I know. I would think you'd be glad to look at a nice monochrome cell instead of smelling the burrito wrappers and banana peels. This could be hours yet. My new lawyer has orders to drag things out. For some reason, my mother doesn't want me to have to talk about the trauma of seeing my father arrested over dinner. It was one of our better dinner parties in years. Tiffany always hated them."

The moment hit him painfully, and Ryan was clearly recognizing he wouldn't have his wife's company at another dinner.

She felt like there was something comforting to say, but it escaped her for too long. Silence seemed safer, and she pretended to be occupied counting bricks in the opposite wall.

"Being a Hudson is like being hatched instead of born. You're different, and you know it about yourself. The nest is in the middle of a maze, and if you want to feel the same as other people you have to find the way out," Ryan said quietly.

He picked at a fast food napkin folded under his paper cup. Nancy kept quiet.

"There are probably right ways to go, but they look the same as a wrong way. So you make mistakes and by the time you're out you have a reputation for doing the wrong thing at least as often as the right one. No one celebrates your freedom, because they think you're being ungrateful. If you can get all the way to the ocean, you can sail to the shore with all the normal people. On the shore, you realize everyone can tell you're a bit of a spoiled monster, and they can see your horns."

The isolation was obvious when he described it like that. Nancy felt like she was getting another moment of the man Ryan could be if he didn't have to keep up the appearances of his family. He had genuinely wept over Lucy and Tiffany, and she believed he was lonely.

She didn't have any comfort. She was lonely, too, and his family could fix that for her. Ryan didn't have the clout, and he wouldn't stand up to his parents for her. But it didn't mean he supported the things they did.

"You could go back, but the maze is more like a fancy crypt. So you try again, and again. You have every resource to keep going forever, in whatever direction, but there's not much company. You sail around until someone lights a lamp and waves you in. I've met a lot of lovely girls that way. You helped me out that one time. You were, um, nicer about it than I was gracious. It was peaceful not to be the enemy. I bet you were a good Sea Queen. You have a spirit for helping people. Lucy had it, too. You could tell she really wanted to help."

Nancy felt a little ashamed. She hadn't been very authentic in her desire to give without getting something out of it.

"Don't give me too much credit," she said. "I was watching you for any signs you'd killed Tiffany while I was helping you."

Ryan shrugged. "You and literally everybody else. If I took things like that personally, I'd go insane," he told her. "You helped me anyway. You didn't have to, but you could tell I was really losing it."

"You were worried somebody was trying to kill you. I couldn't just let them. And I knew the police wouldn't do anything with the way you were talking about ghosts and noises in your house," Nancy told him. "Have you seen her since then?"

She didn't want to name Lucy. A psych evaluation would be a waste of time in her present circumstances. Everything around her was going crazy, and she knew she was reacting exactly the way a sane person responded when the world stopped making sense. She saw a ghost, and that ghost had business with her. Sanity was adjusting to things that really were there.

"No. I mostly saw her at your house, but I'm selling my place just in case. Hey, are you dating Owen Marvin? I was getting a vibe the way he was around you, but I wasn't sure," Ryan asked. "He's got his own issues, you know. And not to be a hypocrite, but he's a bit too old for you."

She knew the look she gave him was incredulous to the point of rudeness. Nancy took up her phone and dug in her purse for earbuds.

"And that is exactly as much small talk as I can do," she said.

Ryan reached out and touched her wrist, very lightly. "Okay, okay! I just meant you deserve to be treated well, and his family isn't that different from mine. He's not normal. He might fake it better, but charming doesn't mean functional. The expectations get more demanding as you get older. The Marvins have a plan for how he'll end up, and you shouldn't get your heart broken over it."

Nancy shifted uncomfortably. She could see the difficulties in a serious relationship with Owen. It was a risk getting close with anyone. She had to hold on to the memory of her parents together to reassure herself it was worth it. If a relationship was really possible, one day she would have the right man at the right time in her life. Finding him before she could commit wouldn't prevent it from working out later.

"You're assuming I have my little lamp out on the beach, shivering away without a good plan for what to do with the monsterous, yet well-groomed rich men I wave in," she told Ryan lightly. "I could build an impressive lighthouse, and a pretty nice Minotaur halfway house right next to it. I could single-handedly save the entire Horseshoe Bay Yacht Club and have my pick of all of you. If I wanted Owen, I'd go after him. I'll repeat what I told him. It's not always about a guy."

He looked almost unbearably smug, but there was a proud note in his voice when Ryan said, "I knew you were smart. Don't let his pretty face make you forget it."

She put in her earbuds and pressed play, not even looking up as she said, "Don't rub your pretty face in his telling him I said a word to you about it."


End file.
